Your stories

I have lived with severe depression and anxiety for as long as I can remember. My therapist says that while it is hereditary, a lot of it can be learned behaviour also. When I was 10 years old my mum had a complete breakdown. She wouldn’t get out of bed, she wouldn’t eat, she wouldn’t talk. All she did was cry. I remember how skinny she got. It was so frightening to see my...

I was diagnosed with anxiety and depression at the beginning of 2016. I have always been a 'worrier'. I even remember being at primary school, worrying about something pretty much every day. I found myself (and still do) catastrophising about everything - again, that's how I've always been, so I didn't really think anything of it: the nervous tummy, headache, aches and pains. They were all things...

When I was two years old, my mother experienced postnatal depression (PND). This meant that for her, it was difficult to raise me. While my dad was at work, I would be in front of the TV, watching cartoons that were suitable for infants, while she was trying to deal with her condition. This led me to late speech development. I was being taken to our local children's centre so that the...

Hi there everyone. I'm Sow Ay, an anxious twenty-something living in Clermont-Ferrand, in the beautiful centre of France. I'm in love with music and try my best to make a living out of my passion as a freelance illustrator. I make designs for bands, t-shirts, exhibitions and I play music and draw on my blog in my free time. This is my story. I've been living with anxiety and mental illness for...

The face is a blank canvas on which you can explore your wildest artistic desires. Makeup, as an art, has the ability to break the boundaries between who you are, and perhaps, who you desire to be or what you feel on the inside. This specific art has assisted me greatly in working through my anxiety and depression. It's given me a platform to express my inner feelings, as well as vent them...

It’s a common assumption that transgender people (regardless of how late in life they might decide to transition), know from an early age that they were “different” from their peers and recall instances in childhood where they expressed a gender identity contrasting their birth sex. Girls who cut their hair short, boys who preferred to wear dresses. Of course, gender identity...

I call myself a ‘Professional Rebel’. I inspire people for a living. I help people, who feel they don’t belong, remember who they are and find their place in the world. So, just imagine the field day my little head went on when me, a happiness teacher, went to the doctors and asked for ‘happy pills’. Surely that’s cheating, right? Well, that’s what...

When I was 14, I really learnt what it was like to be depressed. I didn’t understand it, but I felt it. It lead to a year full of substance abuse and self-harm. It was the start of a spiral that I was heading down. By the time I was 18, I had developed the unhealthy coping mechanisms of sex and drama. I would play with people’s feelings to make myself feel wanted and needed. I liked...

Ever feel that you don't know where to turn next? Or you don't know what support is out there? Well, there is hope. There is the right help out there to help you move on with your life. And, when you find the right treatment and the right counsellor, you won't look back.I suffer from borderline personality disorder, depression, anxiety and panic attacks, so my mental health needs are pretty...